G E A R

                                                                                   
The Bike

Very reliable partner in every cycling condition! All steel, nothing too fancy, always working and very comfortable...

• Avaghon series 26"
• Rohloff Speedhub
• Tubus Racks
• Shimano XT brakes
• Shimano Pedals with toe clips (oldskool, way to go)
• Ergon Grips
• Two pet-bottle holders
• Schwalbe Marathon XR tyres
• Brooks Saddle Selle Koga Saddle (wrecked the brooks)

                                                                                   

Bags

• North Face Backpack
• Ortlieb Front + Back Roller Plus
• Ortlieb Saddle Bag for tools

To go in style with my all black bike I got black panniers as well. I like the plus version of the Ortliebs because they are just a bit more flexible than the regular ones. Keeps everything dry all the time. I like to have a good backpack with me. It's very usefull when you just want to go into a city. The ortliebs are a bit unpractical for that purpose. It's also easy to take off the bike and I can walk into a store with all my important things close to me.
                                                                                    
Tent and Sleeping


Very happy with my portable living room throughout the years. It's a 2 person tent but I think it's better for cycling on your own. I can store my panniers in the front of the tent. It's getting old now after 5 years so I consider to buy a new one. Probably a similar model.

• North Face Tadpole 23 (2006)
• Macpac escapade 350 (thanks Kaap Hoorn for the present)
• Bever inner liner (borrowed)
• Old Thermarest mattres (short one)
• Pillow of sweater, pants and whatever is close at hand

                                                                                    

Clothes

I don't really like to wear cycling clothes because when I'm riding I don't want to stand out to much on the road. Favorite thing to wear are camo-shorts. You don't notice it really well when they get ditry and they are just really comfortable. I use warm cycling tights from Mec under when it's cold. Mostly wearing a normal t-shirt or thin fleece. Waterproof North Face jacket keeps me dry. I'm using low hiking shoes for a little more ankle support in combination with toe clips. I Always seem to bring to much stuff on the trip. Should strip down...

                                                                                    
Cooking

To make my daily pasta, noodles and instant coffee I use the MSR Whisperlite. Mostly powered with dirty fuel from gas stations. Cheapest way and I like the smell :). Only bad thing about that is you have to clean it properly once a week!

• MSR Whisperlite
• Cheap 3 euro chinese pots and pans
• Old blue mug I got as a kid
• Swiss Multitool borrowed from my dad for every trip

                                                                                    
Gadgets

• Garmin GPSmap 60CSX
• DRIFT HD 170 Stealth
• Canon Powershot (old one)
• Macbook Pro 2008 with Adobe CS4 Software for editing (way too heavy)
• Regular agenda, pen, color pencils and blank page book from "boekenvoordeel"

I just recently invested in a video camera because I thought it would be a lot of fun to make video's about my trip. The Drift cam has a 170 degrees wide angle lens so you get a big overview of the landscape and surroundings. The colors are nice during the daytime but it's more difficult to shoot at night. You can mount it to the handlebars and it comes with a headband and other mounting devices. The battery lasts very long and it's really stury and easy to use. Only thing I don't like is the sound quality, lot of noise while attached to handlebars.  I'm going to buy the external mic to get better audio performance.

The Canon Powershot is an old cam but has a good lens and still does the trick after so many years.

My GPS is really a toy on the road. I use it mostly to keep track of the places I stay and collect mountain passes as waypoints. I really like it. But as for the route I mostly still rely on paper maps because with that you have a better overview for planning.

                                                                                    
Luck

I'm not a religious person but I really like the idea of bringing stuff that's helping you along the way.

• Tibetan prayer flag attached to left rear pannier. 
• Necklace with a small bells from Yunnan, small wool gloves my Mom send me to Iceland and fishing lures I found on a beach in Korea.
• Portable happy Jezus Shrine